A Simple Guide to Refill Empty Canon Printer Ink Cartridges
This article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido. Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over 7 years.
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This article has been viewed 630,219 times.
Replacing Canon ink cartridges to put in your printer can be expensive. Fortunately, most Canon cartridges are refillable, and you can save money by replacing the ink yourself. You can easily do this at home with a refill kit, which includes the ink colors, a syringe, and a small thumb drill. This wikiHow will show you how to add more ink to an empty ink cartridge for Canon printers.
Things You Should Know- Get a cartridge refill kit for your exact printer model so it is the right consistency, size, and color.
- Clean the ink cartridge and peel the sticker off the back. Puncture the circle on the back with the thumb drill.
- Fill the syringe with the correct ink color, and then inject the ink through the cartridge hole for the right color.
- Print another page after running the printhead clean. If there are still streaks, you may be running out of ink.
- Only shake the cartridge gently. Shaking hard can not only damage the cartridge, but also cause it to fly out of your hand and break.
- Gently wipe off the electronic sensors in the printer as well. Dust or dirt on any electronic sensor can produce an error message.
- Contact Canon directly if you can’t find the right kit. For a list of contact phone numbers, visit the official Canon website.
- Remember to get a refill kit for your particular printer model number. Canon ink products are all similar, but may not be identical.
- Always check the owner’s manual if you can’t figure out how to remove the cartridges.
- Do not pull on the cartridges if they don’t come out easily. This could damage the cartridge and your printer.
- If this is a multicolor cartridge, you’ll see 3 holes when you peel back the sticker. Each hole leads to a separate ink chamber.
- Protect yourself with gloves while handling a knife.
- Keep the gloves on to prevent yourself from getting ink on your hands.
- Test out the size of the hole by inserting the syringe through it. If it passes through cleanly, the hole is big enough.
- If you find it easier you can also use a power drill to make the hole. Be sure to use a thin drill bit, no larger than the circle on the cartridge, and stop drilling once you break the surface of the plastic.
- If you're working on a multicolor cartridge, poke through each of the 3 circles.
- Wiping the needle on a white piece of paper will make it easier to see which color is in the chamber.
- Canon cartridges usually have 7 ml (.27 fl. oz) of ink in single cartridges and 3 ml (.1 fl. oz) in each chamber of a multicolor cartridge, but the exact amount of ink to fill depends on your cartridge model. Check the manual for your cartridge size, and fill the syringe with that volume of ink.
- Do this over a cloth or somewhere easy to clean, just in case you spill any ink. You can get ink out of clothes, but it will take some effort.
Inject the ink through the hole in the cartridge. Insert the syringe into the cartridge and slowly fill it with ink. Do not squirt the ink out quickly or the cartridge could overflow. Stop filling if ink begins welling up through the hole.
Wipe off the cartridge. Use a rag or paper towel and make sure there is no ink left on the cartridge. Also use a paper towel with some rubbing alcohol to wipe off the sensor on each cartridge. If any ink is on the sensor, the printer may not read it. [3] X Research source
- Use tape that will peel off easily for future refills. Scotch or electrical tape works well. Duct tape would be too sticky to remove.
- Double check that you’ve inserted the correct colors into their corresponding slots.
- For Windows computers, follow the steps for a test print:
- Open Devices and Printers.
- Right-click your printer.
- Click Printer Properties.
- Under the General tab, click Print Test Page.
- Open Printers & Scanners. This may also look like Print & Fax or Print & Scan.
- Click the listing for your printer on the left.
- Click Open Print Queue…
- Click Printer at the top.
- Click Print Test Page. [5] X Research source
Community Q&A
What should I do if after filling my printer cartridge the printer is still saying they are empty? Community AnswerEach printer has a reset method. If you're unsure how it works for your particular make and model, try searching "reset method for ______ (insert make/model) printer, and follow the instructions given.
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What do I do if my cartridge is a combined three color type and I know where the holes are, but not which color is which?
Community AnswerYou can try pushing a small needle in and out, then wiping it on a tissue paper to check the ink color. I did this with my 746 cartridge which has the same setup.
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How do I refill my Canon Pixma color ink cartridge? Community AnswerFollow the instructions as explained in this article. Refilling ink cartridges is not for everyone, you must have a little bit of common sense to be successful. Some people are safer just buying new cartridges.
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- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29wN5-wxv-g
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29wN5-wxv-g
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29wN5-wxv-g
- ↑https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29wN5-wxv-g
About This Article
Co-authored by: Computer & Tech SpecialistThis article was co-authored by Luigi Oppido. Luigi Oppido is the Owner and Operator of Pleasure Point Computers in Santa Cruz, California. Luigi has over 25 years of experience in general computer repair, data recovery, virus removal, and upgrades. He is also the host of the Computer Man Show! broadcasted on KSQD covering central California for over 7 years. This article has been viewed 630,219 times.
How helpful is this? Co-authors: 16 Updated: February 19, 2026 Views: 630,219 Categories: Ink Cartridges- Send fan mail to authors
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